Live Photos

Facebook has been working hard on its iOS app lately. It seems that every other week a new feature is added or deeper iPhone support rolls out. December and January in particular have seen several photo and video related additions to the official Facebook app, now at version 47.0. At its core, Facebook allows users to quickly access their accounts from anywhere to share updates, have conversations, play games and receive notifications. There have been five significant updates to the Facebook app over the past few weeks.

Facebook continues to release updates to its iOS app, adding features and optimizing the experience for users. The latest version supports Live Photos, bringing short video clips captured on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to the masses. Now that any Apple device running iOS 9 can view Live Photos, Facebook has joined the party by integrating the feature directly into their mobile app. To make this happen, Facebook has taken advantage of the Live Photos development kit provided by Apple.

One of the features Apple highlights on the iPhone 6s is Live Photos. While only the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus can capture Live Photos, any device running iOS 9 is capable of viewing these moving images. When it comes to the files, Live Photos are essentially a still accompanied by a short video recorded at 15 frames per second. Non-Apple devices and those running older versions of iOS will only see Live Photos as a normal still image. So what is the best way to share Live Photos and preserve their movement using iOS 9?

Apple has released developer APIs for Live Photos, which means that third-party software developers can integrate Live Photos into their apps. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus feature Live Photos in the stock Camera app.

Other Apple devices running iOS 9 or later can view Live Photos. Also, Apple Watch owners can use a Live Photo as a watch face.

As of this writing, Facebook was actively working on an app including Live Photo functionality.

Yes, Live Photos can be captured with the FaceTime camera on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The front facing selfie camera was upgraded to 5-megapixels and is capable of taking Live Photos, just like the main iSight camera on the back.

Taking a Live Photo with the front iPhone camera requires the Live Photo toggle to be enabled.